Update on Media Center
After a few months of using my media center pc, I decided it was time to wrap my entire media needs into it. Meaning, install a TV turner card... and see what features that would add to the viewing experience. The Card I picked is the
Bravo from Avermedia. Many other similar devices exist, some connect to your cable, this one was for me, as I only use over the air digital broadcasting. Windows Media center allows for two such cards to be installed on one machine.
The card was 50 bucks, took me about 10 minutes to install and 2 hours to figure out how to use it)
Now now only can I use my Windows media center for downloads and music, I can watch HD TV on it, and better yet use it as a tivo. ! Yes. Windows Media center has a built in 14 day scheduler so I can record shows, series .. as simple as someone with cable DVR. But the difference is I am not paying a monthly fee.
Example, here in Los Angeles The BBC World News is broadcast on our local PBS station at 4:30 am ...- live in London. Who the hell is awake at 4:30 ? so here I now can set up my media center to just record it and watch the actual BBC WorldNews when I want.
Bob Lee
Seattle - Victoria BC and Back
After just finishing up a nice holiday, I thought I would share some of details.
The trip was designed with multiple modes of transport, Air to Seattle, ferry from Seattle to Victoria BC and back, and Train from Seattle back to Los Angeles.
We started at Union Station Downtown LA and ended up exactly at the same spot. The trip first was to take the flyaway from Union Station to LAX
. As you can see Union Station is a very unique building, done in the mission or sort of Arts-and Crafts style so popular at the turn of the last century.
The flight on Virgin America was pretty uneventful, except that I was able to use some earned miles to buy tickets in first class. That's always a treat.
Upon arrival at Seattle we had to find transport from the airport to downtown where our hotel was. Funny thing is the prices were for 2 people 38 $ for a shared ride van, 40 for a taxi, or 45 for a stretch limo. Take a guess what we took to the hotel ?
The hotel was the
Paramount hotel on 8th and pine. Turns out, it was pretty close to everything. The city, at lease that area felt very much like I was home back in downtown LA. Same sort of coffee shops and restaurants. Ruth Chris's steakhouse right across the street. Two Hyatt were on either side of us. (The Hyatt on 8th/Olive based on the look of the lobby and restaurant seemed like a superior hotel) - Just in case you were wondering.
Wifi in the hotel, now that was my next fun surprise. I usually find I have to pay 11 buck or so to get in room wifi, but here the supplier was wayport. That meant that because my home internet was not from AT&T. all I needed to do was log in to
Wayport put in my AT&T username - password and like magic, my in room wifi was free.
Taking the very traditional touristy trip though Seattle seeing pikes market, the space needle, the monorail it was time to get some sleep and take the Victoria clipper the next day.
While in Victoria, we did the usual Victoria,went to Buchart Gardens, toured the city, went to the Royal Museum of BC, complete now with an IMAX experience.
Ill post the pictures of the flowers etc on my gallery in a day or so, but here is a few for a taste.
The trip back on Amtrak was a very nice surprise. To be greeted at our sleeping cabin by the conductor with a few splits of champagne, and being told there would be fresh water and hot coffee available for the taking for the entire trip was just the beginning. There was a lounge car, which sold snacks, and was similar to a bubble car of years past where you could relax on a couch look
though picture windows and up though a sunroof at the scenery passing you by. There was a "Parlor Car" which was really a bar on wheels. Nice idea if you
like to have a wine tasting with cheese for 5.00 while was watch the world out your window. Beneath the Parlor Car was a theater. Not the newest movies but it was something to do if you didn't happen to bring along a laptop filled with the Tudors, or Rome. 120 v power was in just about every seat and the only thing missing was wifi. I didn't try it, but it was possible that if you had cell wireless from Verizon or sprint that would have worked fine. My blackberry seemed to be able to work from the train so I see no reason it wouldn't have been worked.
Labels: amtrak, seattle, victoria
Put the HighTech back into my LowTech Phone -Google Voice
Shortly after I switched from my voip back to a two wire, POTS line from ATT I became aware of a new free service being offered by Google
Its called
google voice.
So its a service which will give you a free phone number in the area code of your choice. Mine is
213 245 1027 .
Its not like a yahoo phone number, or skype etc,, Its not another voip to computer service. Its a number which you can use to follow you to whatever phone you happen to be at.
Examples, if you are working from home, one day, someone calls me on my google phone, my home phone will ring, the next day, if I am traveling, my cell will ring. The next day, I am in the office, my same google number is called, my my office rings.
Ok OK, follow me numbers have been arround for a while.
What about.
someone leaves me a voice mail, google transcribes the voice mail into a text message (or email) and sends that text of that voice mail to my blackberry. No more having to call in an actually listen to the message.. just flip open the blackberry and read it.
SMS mesages are sent to my browser, and I can reply to my sms using my web browser et .
I can call you with my normal blackberry,(same backend number) but it will show up on your phone as my google number. (if I want) Voice mails (mp3 files) are emailed to me.
The call blocking/ routing features are great. I can choose to filter out people from getting to me live, by automatically sending them to voice mail, or if I choose, block them completely, and they will hear... that my phone number has been disconnected !
In a nutshell, the service puts you back in control of how and who you talk to. People you want to get to you, all your phones ring. People you don't, can get the complete run around.
Some other features like keeping a log of all your received/ placed missed calls, oh, how about the ability to change phones without the other person on the line knowing.. say you are on your cell, and you notice the battery is going dead, press a button on your cell, the call is transferred to your home phone...
Say you would like to record a call... well thats part of the service as well.
Just the tip of the iceberg for what google seems to be doing with their service.. I guess the bad news is...for now.. that apple has decided to opt out and not provide a google with the ability to work with Iphones. . like I can with my blackberry.. Oh boo hoo. ! Maybe att is thinking about providing the service themselves. ? who knows.
Just noticed my second favorite show starts up again August 15th.! MadMen ! Can't hardly wait. Just finishing up
Underbelly 2 what can I say ? Docudrama TV at its finest. So well done, its gripping, full of surprises, copious amounts of sex and bloody violence backstabbing lovable drug dealers at their 70's best. For those of you who like Nature TV, like say Planet Earth, get the new BBC series
South Pacific. The stories, the photography, learning, passion of the producers to get the shot, to get the story's shows to me once again that BBC is the planets premier TV producer. Its so worth watching.
That is my story today.
Bob
Low Tech phone service might be the way to go,for now
Ok, Ok A few years ago I was all about Vonage. I loved all the widgets and features of VOIP, even tried to set up and manage my own
Astrik Server But now, years later for two reasons I have given up on at least home voip, for two reasons
1 Voice Quality
2 Price
Back when it was unheard of with 25.00 a month for unlimited calls execpt for using a digital voice line, everyone (including me ) had to jump on the almost free bandwagon. Now after a years of frustration, working with hours of tech support - have you rebooted your router, its time to sync, its your internet connection, stop downloading and your voice quality will go up.. and so on .. I just gave up.
But the good news is when I did, ATT and presumably others have finally worked out decent pricing for traditional home phone lines and DSL service.
For me, I like bandwith..so for a 6mb speed DSL and unlimited home phone calling I pay now 70.00 plus tax's Whereas with my ex DSL provider it was 90.00 for a slower DSL and unlimited VOIP phone service.
The trade off, is I cant program my phone with a browser, nor can I get voice mail on email, simul ring, and so on.. none of the fun voip features are on this traditional phone line..
But.. the good news is twofold
1 quality of my voice.. and being the egotistic nut I am, everyone I speak to must hear the beautiful quality of my voice . . and two.. ( not nearly as important as the voice thing) is the voip features I am missing will soon all be available for free with googles new service called google/voice . Check it out on
www.google.com/voice/
Movie- In the Loop TV -The thick of it.
After being alerted to this new movie "In the Know" and falling in love with quick British Sarcastic humor, I stumbled across the BBC show which started it. The show is called The thick of it
What can I tell you ? Its somewhat like the BBC version of the office so us on this side of the pond have to put on our English listening ears to even begin to understand it.
Faulty towers meets WestWing, meets the office. It is so deadpan dry humor that you might find yourself thinking too hard to find the funny bits. Just let yourself go with it. The characters start to grow on you, and you fall in love with most of them, knowing that any minute for reasons not of their own doing, anyone can be SACKED.
For those of you who don't torrent here is a
sample.. Bob
LA Artwalk reviewed
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/lo/lo090710downtowns_block_part I couldn't say it better, this is a pretty good explanation of my neighborhood every month on the second Thursday.
Bob
Facebook is for winneys, real men tweet
To prove once again I am only one of the mass herd, who do everything media tells me. I now feel its time to bag on Facebook and move my useless meandering thoughts off Facebook to the ultimate kewl micro blog
twitter.
Yes I did say twitter. Sure it sounds like something from a Monty Python sketch and yes, it looks like that too. Simple, with an RSS feed, (for those of us who know about such things) but here is the key to Twitter, Its a blog .. sort of.. where all you type is in the box [What are you doing ?] ya.. its that simple.
you type, and there it is listed.
Now comes the fun part.. you now can type what are you doing from your cell phone...!! oh joy, now when I am driving home in traffic, friends all over the globe worrying about what bob is doing, I no longer have to wait till I get home back to my laptop. I now from any old stop sign sms to twitter..
something like "Hey I am in traffic" or listening to NPR, thinking about that girl with big tits right in front of me. Now those great thoughts which yesterday were lost forever, now can be logged and blogged and tweeted into cyber log for everyone to read, digest,comment on puke and redigest for others.
Yes the Internet is great, and twitter makes it better.
Follow my tweets at
http://twitter.com/nocarrierbobBob
